1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to artificial Christmas trees and, more specifically, to Christmas trees or other decorative trees which incorporate a large number of fiber optic strands with one end of each strand terminating between, adjacent to or closely associated with the tip ends of simulated needles on the tree. The other end of each fiber optic strand terminates adjacent to and in alignment with colored segments of a rotatable color wheel with a light source oriented adjacent to an opposite surface of the color wheel to illuminate the ends of the fiber optic strands adjacent the color wheel with changing colors. The color wheel is motor driven and when it rotates and the light source is energized, the fiber optic strands will transmit changing colors to the terminal ends of the fiber optic strands adjacent the tip ends of the needles thereby providing a decorative tree that includes a large number of illuminated terminal ends of the fiber optic strands which continuously change color in accordance with the arrangement of transparent color segments in the color wheel.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Small fiber optic Christmas trees having a height generally ranging from 2 feet to 4 feet are well known and commercially available. Such trees include a hollow main stem or trunk and a plurality of branches having simulated tree needles, usually shredded green polyvinyl chloride (PVC), mounted thereon. A plurality of fiber optic strands extend into and along the branches and have terminal ends near the tips of the branches and the needles. The fiber optic strands extend from the branches down through the center of the hollow main stem or trunk. The main stem or trunk is supported on a housing generally in the form of a container or pot having a socket in its upper end telescopically receiving the lower end of the main stem or trunk. A motor driven rotatable color wheel is mounted in the housing or pot and a halogen light is mounted under the color wheel so that the rotating color wheel will illuminate the ends of the fiber optic strands at the lower end of the main stem with different colors. The main stem or trunk must have a diameter sufficient to receive a large number of fiber optic strands which terminate at the lower end of the main stem or trunk.
In view of the size limitations of the main stem, presently available fiber optic Christmas trees are relatively small and usually have a maximum total length, including the supporting housing or pot of approximately 48 inches or less. Efforts to construct a taller tree, such as one 6, 7 or 8 feet tall, by using the techniques now available would necessarily result in an extremely large diameter main stem or trunk in view of the large number of fiber optic strands necessary to construct such a taller artificial Christmas tree with fiber optic changing color illumination. Accordingly, to date, artificial Christmas trees with changeable color fiber optic illumination having a height of 6, 7 or 8 feet are not available since the large number of fiber optic strands necessary in the construction of fiber optic artificial Christmas trees of greater heights results in an unsightly and undesirably large main stem or trunk.
In the panel construction of artificial Christmas trees without fiber optics having heights greater than about 4 feet, it is customary to provide a vertical main stem or trunk, usually hollow, supported by a stand at the lower end and having a socket at the upper end for telescopically and frictionally receiving a top section of the tree which is of integrated construction. Also, a plurality of downwardly and outwardly inclined panels are supported from the upper end of the main stem or trunk. Usually, each of the panels includes a substantially rigid member of wire terminating at its upper end in a downwardly opening hook which hooks into supporting holes in a plate or over a supporting ring at the upper end of the main stem or trunk. A ring is usually supported from the stem or trunk at a lower portion thereof with the ring supportingly engaging an intermediate portion of each of the panels to retain the panels in a conical configuration as a continuation of the top tree section. The top tree section and all of the panels have branches or stems with simulated needles attached thereto usually of shredded green PVC. The stems, branches or panels are somewhat bendable to enable them to be oriented in desired locations in order to provide a continuity to the external appearance characteristics of the artificial Christmas tree.
The present invention utilizes a structural arrangement similar to the conventional artificial tree described above. However, the structure is configured to provide changeable color fiber optic illumination of the tip end area of the needles at the outer ends of the branches or stems throughout the vertical and circumferential extent of the full tree from top to bottom. The integrated top tree section of the Christmas tree of this invention is similar to an existing small fiber optic Christmas tree. This top tree section includes a trunk having bendable branches or stems and PVC simulated needles permanently secured thereto. The branches are normally oriented in an upwardly and outwardly inclined relation to the top section trunk. Each of the branches or stems includes a large number of fiber optic strands with the strands extending to points adjacent the tip ends of the needles at the outer ends of the branches or stems and usually arranged in clusters. The fiber optic strands then extend downwardly in the top section trunk and terminate in exposed ends at the lower end of the top section trunk. The lower ends of the strands are then exposed to a motor driven rotatable color wheel and a light source on the opposite side of the color wheel from the fiber optic strands. The rotatable color wheel, drive motor and light source are positioned inside a supporting housing or pot. An electrical conductor and switch are connected with the motor and light source to selectively energize the same. Preferably, the motor is of reduced voltage such as 12 volts or more and the light source is a halogen light bulb or bulbs and the color wheel is a circular wheel with a plurality of radially extending, circumferentially spaced transparent color inserts which are sufficiently transparent and align with the bulb or bulbs as the wheel rotates to illuminate the exposed ends of the fiber optic strands with different colors to illuminate the fiber optic strands and change the colors of the tip ends of the fiber optic strands as the color wheel is rotated.
In the present invention, the necessity of extending a large number of fiber optic strands through a large main trunk when constructing a tall Christmas tree, such as 6 to 8 feet, is avoided. Instead, the supporting housing or pot into which extend the lower end of the fiber optic strands of the top section, is elevated and supported on the upper end of a pole or pipe. The pole or pipe serves as an elongated main trunk for the bottom section of the tree. The elongated main trunk has a stand at its bottom end with the housing or pot for the top tree section secured to the upper end. The elongated trunk is preferably hollow to provide passage of an insulated conductor for a source of electrical energy to the motor and light bulb in the elevated housing or pot.
In one embodiment of this invention, the housing or pot includes a pair of spaced, generally parallel plates each of which has a plurality of circumferentially spaced and aligned openings. The lower section of the Christmas tree below the integrated top section includes a plurality of branches or panels each of which includes a substantially rigid wire member having a down turned hook at its upper end. The down turned hook includes a terminal end portion which can be inserted through a pair of aligned openings in the plates thereby supporting each of the branches or panels in a downwardly, outwardly inclined relation. Each of the branches or panels includes a plurality of wire stems each including a large number of simulated needles of green shredded PVC attached thereto or mounted thereon. The terminal end of the down turned hook terminates below the lower plate in the pot and slightly above a color wheel. Each of the branches or panels of the bottom tree section includes a large number of fiber optic strands extending along the wire stems and along or through the rigid wire member in the branches or panels. The shredded PVC strips forming simulated needles wrap around the wire stems and wire member and fiber optic strands. The terminal ends of the fiber optic strands are divided and positioned preferably in clusters, adjacent the tips of the simulated tree needles. The other or base end of the large number of fiber optic strands for each branch or panel is wrapped around and secured to or extend through the down turned hook end of the rigid wire member. As such, the base ends of the fiber optic strands are exposed to the area immediately above the color wheel and in alignment with the colored segments to illuminate the exposed base ends of the fiber optic strands with different colors. These colors are then transmitted to the terminal ends of the strands.
Thus, when the color wheel rotates and the light bulb is energized, the color wheel will sequentially illuminate the fiber optic strands in both the top tree section and the bottom tree section of the Christmas or other decorative tree. Both the exposed ends of the fiber optic strands in the lower end of the top tree section and the base ends of the fiber optic strands on the downwardly and outwardly inclined long branches or panels may be eccentric in relation to the rotational axis of the color wheel. As such, the colored segments of the color wheel will sequentially illuminate the fiber optic strands in both the top section and lower section of the tree in accordance with the color sequence of the transparent colored segments of the color wheel.
As a variation of this embodiment of the present invention, the trunk of the bottom section of the tree has an apertured support plate below the color wheel housing to receive a support hook on a rigid wire support for each panel. The fiber optic strands extend upwardly and extend downwardly into the color wheel housing for illumination of the ends of the fiber optic strands.
In another embodiment of the present invention, the top tree section is the same as in the first embodiment. However, the lower tree section of the plurality of circumferentially spaced artificial branches or panels which include the stems of wire and shredded PVC to form needles, are without the fiber optic strands. The stems are attached to a rigid wire member having a downwardly opening hook at its upper end to engage with a apertured plate or ring at the upper end of the main trunk. Each panel has a smaller wire member attached to the rigid wire member with a plurality of twist wire loop or similar attachment structure. The smaller wire member has a plurality of wire stems attached thereto and a plurality of fiber optic strands which extend through the needles on the stems on the artificial branches to an observable position. The upper end of each smaller wire member and the fiber optic strands attached thereto extend downwardly into a separate housing adjacent the pot or housing supporting the top tree section. Each individual housing includes a motor driven color wheel and light source similar to that in the pot of the top tree section thereby illuminating the terminal end of each fiber optic strand with different colors as the color wheel is rotated.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an artificial Christmas tree or other decorative tree having a height ranging approximately from 6 to 8 feet and above, in which changeable color terminal ends of a large number of fiber optic strands are located adjacent tip ends of simulated needles throughout the vertical and circumferential extent of the tree.
Another object of the invention is to provide a fiber optic Christmas tree including a top section and a bottom section with a large number of fiber optic strands terminating above a rotatably driven color wheel and light source located in elevated position in order to eliminate the necessity for all of the fiber optic strands to extend to the lower end of the tree trunk thereby enabling the tree trunk to be of relatively smaller diameter and thus less observable and also reducing the cost by using shorter fiber optic strands.
A further object of the invention is to provide a fiber optic Christmas tree in accordance with the preceding objects in which the top section of the tree is an integrated unit having a trunk constructed of a large number of fiber optic strands with their terminal ends adjacent the tips of simulated needles in the top section of the tree.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a fiber optic Christmas tree in accordance with the preceding objects in which the lower section of the tree includes a plurality of circumferentially spaced, downwardly and outwardly inclined branches or panels. In a first embodiment, the upper ends of the branches and the fiber optic strands attached thereto have downwardly opening supporting hooks at its upper end supported from a housing having a motor driven color wheel and light source oriented in elevated relation to the lower end of the tree. The fiber optic strands from both the top section and the lower section of the tree terminate in exposed ends oriented above and in alignment with color segments of the color wheel with the light source illuminating the terminal ends of the fiber optic strands with different colors which are transmitted to the ends of the strands adjacent the tips of the needles.
A still further object of the invention is to provide a fiber optic Christmas tree in which the lower section of the tree includes a plurality of circumferentially spaced, downwardly and outwardly inclined branches or panels such as used in a conventional artificial Christmas tree. In a second embodiment, the upper ends of the branches have a downwardly opening hook at an upper end supported from an apertured plate or ring oriented at an elevated position and either incorporated into the pot or housing for the top section of the tree or supported on the trunk of the Christmas tree at an elevated position. Each of the branches includes a smaller wire attached to the rigid wire of the branches by a plurality of wire ties or other attachment structure. The smaller wire member includes a plurality of stems having fiber optic strands secured thereto which extend along the smaller wire member into a separate housing attached to the smaller wire member. The separate housing includes a motor driven color wheel and light source similar to that in the first embodiment so that each individual panel will have a plurality of fiber optic tips associated with the artificial needles in the panel and provided with its own housing, color wheel and light source.
Yet another object of this invention is to provide a fiber optic Christmas tree in accordance with the preceding objects and which will conform to conventional forms of manufacture, be of simple construction and easy to use so as to provide a device that will be economically feasible, long lasting and relatively trouble free in operation.
These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout.